So long, Scoob.
Scooby Wright, the former star Arizona Wildcats linebacker, indicated on social media this week that he is moving on from professional football. Wright, who most recently played in the United Football League (formerly USFL), shared a since-deleted tweet Wednesday of two cleats hanging on a goalpost.
Wright sent out several other since-deleted tweets detailing the pain he is suffering from a neck injury.
“ain’t nothing happy about it i can’t even look left without a shooting pain going down my arm,” Wright wrote in a tweet Wednesday afternoon.
ain’t nothing happy about it i can’t even look left without a shooting pain going down my arm
— Scooby Wright III (@TwoStarScoob) April 24, 2024
The Arizona Football X account all but confirmed Wright’s retirement from football with a post on Wednesday.
Two star turned legend
Congrats on /A great career @TwoStarScoob! pic.twitter.com/0OIaaqeiQS
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 25, 2024
Wright, 29 years old, played parts of two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016-17. He later played for the Arizona Hotspots of Alliance of American Football league and the XFL’s DC Defenders before joining the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2022.
With the Stallions, Wright won USFL Defensive Player of the Week in May of 2022. Wright contributed a pick-six in the USFL Championship game, which the Stallions won.
The Santa Rosa, Calif. native played three seasons at Arizona (2013-15). He started 12 of 13 games as a freshman, recording 83 tackles.
As a sophomore, Wright broke out as of the top linebackers in college football, posting 163 tackles, 14 sacks and six forced fumbles. He was named 2014 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Lombardi Award, the Jack Lambert Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award.
Wright’s junior season got cut short when he suffered a foot injury in Arizona’s conference opener against UCLA. Wright returned for the New Mexico Bowl, where he was named Defensive MVP.
Wright has been a loyal and vocal supporter of Arizona football since leaving college.